KEYS OF HOPE

Meka Arpége of the group  Meka Arpége & Barshaun

In promotion of their album in November 2012:


TwW: How does Keys of Hope fit into your own musical vision?

Meka: If you listen, Keys of Hope is about going for your dreams without being afraid, and for me that's a perfect fit.

The album premieres 1.13.13
http://theworldwaiting.com/

The Story of Barshaun

November 5, 2012 in Blog, Story of the Month, The World Waiting

“People don’t want to hear fake stuff. They want real life.”

It’s a simple but profound message that punctuates and flows through the music of Barshaun, a man who emerged from incarceration and on the run from the law to one of San Diego’s premiere hip-hop artists and now — collaborator on Keys of Hope.

Reared in Chicago under the tutelage of a musically talented and commercially successful father, Barshaun often found himself with a mic in his hand belting out song after song at the kitchen table. The inevitable influence of rap and hip hop eventually shifted the focus off his dad’s throwback style.

“It wasn’t until I went to school to study studio recording engineering did I truly appreciate everything my dad taught me about music,” he says.

Three music schools and many bouts of trouble later, Barshaun eventually fell onto the wrong side of the law and into the arms of multiple incarcerations. His time in jail was not entirely anti-music, though:  Barshaun recalls hacking together a tape recorder out of a cassette player by reversing its direction —  then using it to lay down some tracks with his cellmates to pass the time.

At some point between his rock and hard place with the law, Barshaun made a break for his freedom and, as he says, “went on the run and laid low.” He traveled from state to state, city to city, unable to secure a real job (for obvious reasons) but always working on “independent music hustles” to help people out around the neighborhoods he skipped through.

When he found San Diego, Barshaun immediately took to its year-round lighter (than L.A.) crowds, warm weather, beautiful women and “practically-legal weed.” By this time, too, he discovered his preference for live performances over the solitude of the recording studio.

“I’m a real believer in the power of attraction, and when I got to San Diego, I saw myself being a successful musician here.”

Now, years later, Barshaun’s vision has manifested not only into his own recording studio but also a live band — Legacy Pack — which recently opened for Public Enemy and Mos Def.